


A Four-Part Treatise on Women and Religion in the Twelve Colonies

by A Magiluna Stormwriter (ariestess)



Category: Caprica (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-31
Updated: 2012-01-31
Packaged: 2017-10-30 10:34:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/330783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariestess/pseuds/A%20Magiluna%20Stormwriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How does religion affect the lives of four women in the Twelve Colonies?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Four-Part Treatise on Women and Religion in the Twelve Colonies

**Author's Note:**

> Date Written: 31 January 2012  
> Word Count: 1413  
> Written for: [](http://the-fic-trader.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**the_fic_trader**](http://the-fic-trader.dreamwidth.org/)'s Gen in January 2012  
>  Prompts: 7 - fidelity, 8 - eternity, 9 - duality, 10 - responsibility  
> Summary: How does religion affect the lives of four women in the Twelve Colonies?  
> Spoilers: Consider the whole series fair game, particularly the latter eps.  
> Warnings: No standard warnings apply.  
> Website: ShatterStorm Productions – Not From Around Here  
> Link to: <http://sff.shatterstorm.net/>  
> Archive: ShatterStorm Productions only…all others ask for permission & we'll see…
> 
> Author’s Disclaimer: "Caprica," the characters, and situations depicted are the property of Ron Moore, David Eick, David Eick Productions, SciF Channel, Sky TV, and Universal Media Studios. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. This site is in no way affiliated with "Caprica," SciFi, or any representatives of the actors.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Ahaha! This was quite a trip to write. I'm kind of considering an expansion on this idea, too. It's quite an intriguing way to look at both the show and the characters with this religion filter.
> 
> Dedication: My muses, as usual…
> 
> Beta: Not currently beta'd, so all mistakes are mine. This means I reserve the right to futz with this down the line when I get a beta to look at it.

**i. On Fidelity**

She finds the dichotomy quite amusing, really, but doesn't offer that opinion to just anyone. Just as with anything else she believes in, she doesn't share anything that she's not completely certain will only benefit her and her cause. Not even if sharing it would mean someone else is made happier.

The polytheists that surround her and her family all feel that theirs is the correct and only religion available. That means that all of their rules and restrictions also apply. Anyone falling outside their strictures is a deviant, dangerous to the very delicate balance of life and death itself.

She finds it utterly insane to devote oneself to multiple gods, but only one mate. How could she possibly stay true to only one of her husbands or wives for the rest of her mortal life? Each brings a unique quality to the family that she's cultivated over the years. Yes, others -- usually polytheists -- find her family to be rather on the cultish side, even without knowing the added detail of their status within the STO. She can handle that assumption on their part. She also sees the curious, almost lustful, expressions in their eyes as they attempt to steer disdain in the direction of her family. They want what she has, even if only in the most prurient sense of the word.

What they don't understand is her utter devotion to her family, and her cause. No one in her family actively seeks out someone new to bring into the fold. Not normally. It has come up on occasion. How else would she have a family such as she has? But even minor, innocent flirtations are discussed among the family, and no one is admitted into their ranks without the full consent of the entire family.

Except for Amanda Graystone. The one and only time that she ever overruled her family was for Amanda. Amanda was not shared with the rest of the family, not in the conventional sense. Amanda was hers and hers alone. In many ways, she'll be paying for that sin for the rest of her life, especially since Amanda went back to that damnable husband of hers. But Amanda will never forget her time at the cabin. If there'd been just a little more time, she'd have a new wife by now, and a new convert to the One True God.

God has a plan. She knows this and she does her best to follow His word without hesitation. She will have her family, she will have Amanda, and she will usher in a new era in the Twelve Colonies in the name of the One True God. And hopefully, she will do it as Reverend Mother of the STO. It is inevitable.

**ii. On Eternity**

"We won't ever change, will we?"

Tamara's question startles you. You've been living in V-World for years now, it seems. Time is irrelevant when you can't die. No, you can die, but you just heal and return to this same existence instantaneously.

You go through the motions of living: you eat food just like you used to, even if it only has taste because you will it to; you go wherever you want because you can create any place you want in here; you sleep when you get tired, or you simulate sleeping just as you simulate eating and other bodily necessities. None of it is real. You create and destroy whole worlds on a whim. You can be and do anything you want.

Except for the one thing that you both crave more than anything.

"That's a pretty fatalistic thought," you finally say, carefully hiding your secret fears and desires from her. That's not an easy task in here.

It's only when she wanders off to do something else that you realize you never actually answered her question. You're not even sure you _can_ answer it. There are so many variables left to explore to this life you've been thrust into through the will of the One True God.

**iii. On Duality**

Sometimes she wonders what would happen if she tried to go back to New Cap City. Joseph can't go back, thanks to Tamara's hurtful rage and fear. Oh, she understands why Tamara did it. She doesn't agree with it on some levels, but she understands it and approves of the final outcome. The allure of the death walker, be it boon or curse, is a heady one.

She wonders if Tamara would allow any sort of close communion with Emmanuelle again. She's relatively certain that the girl never made the connection between her V-World persona and her real life identity. If Tamara had, she's quite certain Emmanuelle would have been killed in New Cap City just like Joseph's avatar was.

Even now, heavily pregnant with Joseph's son, she considers pulling the holo-band from the hidden recess in her jewelry box and slipping it on. Just to see if she can find Tamara again, check in on her stepdaughter. And she can't deny the very visceral need to have a body that responds the way she wants it to, without the burdens of age and pregnancy. Once the baby comes, she'll have even less time to explore the odd relationship she'd begun to cultivate with Joseph's daughter.

Joseph can't find out about her potential access to Tamara. He can never find out that it was her influence that got his avatar killed in New Cap City, through Emmanuelle's tainted whispers in Tamara's ear. He'd become even more despondent and obsessed with his dead daughter. That kind of behavior would get him killed, not make him Guatrau one day. And she intended her husband take that role and rule with an iron fist. Their son would follow in his footsteps, and his son after that.

She would have a legacy, make the Adama name one to be feared and respected. If Emmanuelle helped that goal become reality, so be it.

**iv. On Responsibility**

This was never what I expected. I always planned on finishing school, going to college, finding a husband and raising a family, dedicating my children to the Lords of Kobol. There was even a time when I considered becoming a priestess; I just never knew which of the gods I would dedicate myself to for the rest of my life. Perhaps that was my problem, and why I never followed that particular life path: I could never commit to any one of the gods forever.

And then Zoe Graystone barreled her way into my life. No, that's not exactly right. We'd been friends for as long as I can remember. It wasn't until she got so desperately caught up in the STO and the cult of the One True God that my life truly began to change and spiral out of control.

And now look at us. Zoe's dead, blown into a bloody paste while on her way to Gemenon, but a version of her lives in V-World. And in the collective hive mind of the Cylons her father built. They are my greatest supporters, if that's something you can say about a bunch of robotic killing machines.

And I have risen up in the ranks of the STO far more quickly than anyone could ever have imagined. Considering how many times I was nearly killed because of the frakking STO, I am amused to be where I am today. Between Barnabas and Sister Clarice's family, I should have been dead several times over. Let's not even get into the hell I lived in the STO training camp.

Thankfully that hell was relatively short-lived. The moment it was discovered that I could make the Cylons obey me, the power dynamics shifted. Oh, I know that the previous Reverend Mother and her higher ups wanted me dead in the worst way because I wouldn't make the Cylons do what they asked automatically.

It wasn't like I could tell them that Zoe was downloaded into one of the Cylons, that she'd been passed along to the rest of that collective hive mind. So I did the next best thing. I became their defender, their staunchest supporter. They do my bidding now, and they keep Zoe's memory alive. Without them, I wouldn't be Reverend Mother of the STO.

Without Zoe, I wouldn't be Reverend Mother of the STO. I cannot shirk my duty to her memory and her beliefs. Together, her children and I will build a way of life in the service of the One True God.


End file.
